Escape into Middle Earth with a classic of modern literature

Review of "The Fellowship of the Ring," by J.R.R. Tolkien

Published: Monday, December 17, 2001

JENNIFER PAXTONA Word in Edgewise

In 1954, a story was published. The publisher didn't have much faith in its success, so it went out in a tiny first publication: only 3,500 copies. People called it "escapist fantasy," which doomed it to the literary back shelf, soon to be forgotten and replaced by other books ... or so the publisher thought.

Quite the contrary.

That story, published 47 years ago, was "The Lord of the Rings," a sweeping fantasy classic that has sold an estimated 100 million copies to date in more than 25 languages, according to the December 2001 Reader's Digest. And now a major movie based on the novel is poised to become one of the most successful films ever to come out of Hollywood. The official Web site (lordoftherings.net) has been visited hundreds of millions of times by fans, eagerly devouring every scrap of information thrown their way.

So, what's it all about?

The first book, "The Fellowship of the Ring" (the movie versions of books two and three are scheduled to come out in December 2002 and 2003, respectively), begins in a small, seemingly insignificant part of Middle Earth called the Shire. The Shire is inhabited by a race of small people called hobbits, who like nothing better than to listenbetween meals, that isto exciting tales of brave deeds. . .as long as they don't have to do any themselves. Hobbits are not known for their love of adventure. But sometimes they get thrown into an adventure in spite of themselves.

Bilbo Baggins went on adventure 60 years before Fellowship. He came back with gold and jewels, but he also brought home a ring, a magic ring which had the ability to make its wearer invisible. And when Bilbo decided to leave the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday, he left that ring to his cousin and heir, Frodo.

But what neither hobbit knew was that the ring was not merely a convenient device for making oneself vanish at will. It was the key to the dark lord Sauron's power. Sauron lost the ring in battle many centuries ago, but he knew that it had been found, and he would do whatever it took to get it back.

And if he ever did, he would cover all Middle-Earth with his shadow. The only choice was to destroy the ring forever by throwing it into Orodruin, Mount Doom  the volcano where it was forged.

Problem: Orodruin was in the very heart of Sauron's kingdom, Mordor.

Frodo was appointed Ringbearer by a great council and charged to take the ring to Mordor and destroy it. "The Fellowship of the Ring" is the story of the first part of his journey, which leads him and his companions through the dark Mines of Moria and the golden forest of Lothlorien, and finally down the river Anduin to the Falls of Rauros. The setting is vast and rich.

The Lord of the Rings is a classic of modern literature. C.S. Lewis, a friend of Tolkien's, said in his essay, "Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' ": "I have little doubt that this book will soon take its place among the indispensables." And he was right.